Using a Champion-Oriented Mindset to Overcome the Challenges of Graduate School

Despite efforts to increase diversity, a glaring underrepresentation of minorities (URM) persists in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Graduate school can be a stressful step in the STEM pipeline, especially for students previously unaware of the structure and challenges of post-graduate education. To promote successful minority participation in STEM and prepare prospective students for the impending challenges of graduate school, we developed a workshop based on the mentoring and fostering of a champion-oriented mindset entitled, The Trials and Tribulations of Graduate School: How Do You Make an Impact?. We administered the workshop to a cohort of university undergraduates and conducted pre- and post-workshop surveys to measure students perceived need for instruction on specific workshop topics. The results suggest that the workshop was well received by the students and provided information that they considered helpful to help navigate the graduate school process.

Continued STEM Commitment in Light of 2020 Events: A Perspective From the Illinois Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation

We evaluated the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism on Underrepresented Minority (URM) students pursuing higher education in the STEM fields. Given the ongoing pandemic and the wave of protests in response to a series of police brutalities and systemic racism, URM students were thrown into uncharted territory. We reached out to a group of Black and Latino students who were already engaged in STEM. We began surveys and interviews by asking participants how they were and how their family and communities were doing. Next, participants answered questions about academic progress, challenges, and what support would be helpful. Our framework was based on a mixed-methods approach that draws on the work of Michael Patton (Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice, 2014) and Veronica Thomas (American Journal of Evaluation, 2016, 38 (1), 7–28). Qualitative data from interviews were collected to capture perceptions, experiences, and recommendations of the study participants. Survey data were collected to reach as many students as possible and to provide numerical self-assessments of student experience, progression, and obstacles. All qualitative data were coded thematically using Atlas. ti, with the goal of illuminating emerging themes, and quantitative data were reviewed using descriptive statistics. Themes emerging from both data sets were compared, contrasted, and integrated in order to develop consistent findings that would enhance URM student perseverance and persistence in the face of confounding adversities. This study shows that ILSAMP COVID-19 Study participants maintained a commitment to pursuing a career in STEM. The findings of this study also indicate that the participants are stressed by their immediate circumstances and by the ongoing racism of U.S. society. These students ask for additional financial, academic, and networking support during the disruptions caused by the pandemic. More specifically, students request continued advising and connection with STEM professionals who can help them envision and enact a pathway to their own careers in STEM during this tumultuous period. The study validates the importance of key elements of the national LSAMP model as reported by Clewell et al. (Revitalizing the Nation’s Talent Pool in STEM, 2006). These are: academic integration, social integration, and professional integration. In addition, it identifies several other factors that are key to student success, including interventions that directly address racial trauma and economic hardship.

A Model Interdisciplinary Collaboration to Engage and Mentor Underrepresented Minority Students in Lived Arctic and Climate Science Research Experiences

The Polaris Project, a National Science Foundation–funded program at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, aims to comprehensively address minority participation in climate and Arctic science research. Critical participant outcomes included development of interdisciplinary research projects, involvement in self-efficacy and advocacy experiences, and increased awareness and discussion of Arctic research careers.

A Potential Canary in the Coal Mine: A Critical Policy Analysis of the Illinois LSAMP During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact every industry and test problem-solving capabilities and innovation across the board; education is no exception. As institutions continue to adapt to the impacts of the current public health crisis, colleges and universities are also navigating federal policy prompted by the pandemic. Literature has shown the positive influence of organizations, such as the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP), and, we argue that they can take a more active intermediary approach, that of an Organizational Buffer, to best support their students during times of uncertainty. Current research highlights the disconnect between STEM education and policy, as well as how the pandemic is disproportionately impacting communities of color. The pervasiveness of whiteness within educational policy and the negative impacts of unequal distribution of resources on students of color in STEM highlight the need to center race in a theoretical framework and policy. The purpose of this study was to understand the policy and communication responses to the pandemic as they pertained to supporting student success in STEM. Using the Theory of Racialized Organizations, which is a qualitative case study approach that leverages diffractive readings, was implemented to understand whether educational policy and communication responses during this time have or perpetuated inequitable systems. Guided by the research question, in what ways do pandemic policies and communications bolster the success of underrepresented minoritized students (URM) majoring in STEM, our study found four versions of policymaking (i.e., Performative, Picking Winners and Losers, Stay in your Lane, and Time Burden) that emerged and did not support URM STEM students equitably and consistently. Based on these findings, we present implications for institutional responses, LSAMP-alliance support, and future research.

Cultivating Graduate STEM Pathways: How Alliance-Based STEM Enrichment Programs Broker Opportunity for Students of Color

To understand how higher education institutions broker graduate opportunities for Students of Color (SOCs) in STEM, we employ a single case study of a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) alliance. Drawing primarily from student interviews and informed by Small’s (2006) organizational brokerage theory, our findings illuminate how 1) alliance-based STEM enrichment programs (SEPs) bridge social capital via interorganizational networks and 2) how SEP instability creates barriers to building the trust that is central to the brokerage process. We conclude with recommendations for future research and practice.

The Impacts of Global Research and International Educational Experiences on Texas A&M University System LSAMP Participants

The Texas A&M University System was one of the first six Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) awardees. All current members of the Alliance are part of the Texas A&M University System. Many high impact practices (HIP) have been emphasized in the Alliance’s 30 years of programming with Diversity/Global Learning as a focus in the last 14 years. Diversity/Global Learning has been supported in two formats on the Alliance campuses, through traditional study abroad programming and a College of Engineering initiative. Data presented were derived from a number of sources, project evaluation information regarding student perspectives and outcomes, survey research conducted by an independent party, and institutional data and online platforms accessed to assess student outcomes. Triangulation was completed between data sets. Results indicate both forms of programming were efficacious for underrepresented and first-generation students. Outcomes reported were substantial increases in awareness of and interest in graduate school, increases in cultural learning, confidence in travel outside the United States, learning relevant to major, commitment to continuing involvement with research, interest in another similar experience, and willingness to consider employment outside the U.S. Participants reported statistically significant growth in personal, professional, and research skills. They persisted, participated in additional study abroad experiences, and graduated at higher rates than their institutional peers with approximately 90% of informants indicating intention to consider graduate school in the future, over 40% indicating intent to attend immediately following undergraduate study, and 39.4% of 2007–2014 participants enrolling in graduate school by the spring of 2021. Programming described is replicable at and likely to be efficacious for a wide variety of institutions of higher education.